Genre
Fantasy
Setting and Context
Set in a fictional Byzantine Empire
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Disheartening
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central characters are Crispin and Rustem. The antagonist is Queen Gisel.
Major Conflict
There is a major conflict between King Valerius, Queen Gisel, and the surrounding empires.
Climax
The climax comes when Queen Gisel escapes to Sarantine to escape an assassination attempt.
Foreshadowing
The marriage offer sent by Queen Gisel to King Valerius foreshadowed the attack on her kingdom.
Understatement
King Valerius understated Queen Gisel’s message that the kingdom of Batiara was in danger.
Allusions
N/A
Imagery
The eruption of chaos in Sarantine streets is described and the sudden appearance of Queen Gisel in Valerius' palace depicted danger. Shortly, the whole city is in chaos. Everyone, including Crispin, is running for safety.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Crispin never finished the project he yearned to accomplish to demonstrate his mosaic skills.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between the letter Queen Gisel sent to Valerious and the eruption of war.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The mighty hippodrome is used as a metonymy for a palace.
Personification
N/A
